1. Field of the Invention
An electrical connector includes a housing having a chamber in which are mounted a bus bar, and a leaf spring that normally biases the end of a conductor that is inserted into the chamber into electrical engagement with the bus bar, characterized by the provision of a release member connected with the housing for movement from a retracted position toward an extended release position, thereby to release the spring from the conductor so that the conductor might be removed from the housing. For ease of operation, the release member has a pair of angularly arranged surfaces that contain operating openings for selectively receiving the tip of an operating tool arranged at various angular positions relative to the housing.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated by the German Patent No. 295 00 614.5, it has been proposed in the prior art to provide an electrical connector arrangement in which a release member is operable relative to the connector housing to release the biasing leg of a leaf spring from locking engagement with a conductor, thereby to permit disengagement of the conductor from a bus bar contained within the housing, and removal of the conductor from the housing.
For the purpose of connecting fine-strand conductors to the bus bar, and/or for the disconnection and removal of the conductors from the housing, the assembly is provided with a disconnect member that is actuated either manually, or by means of an actuating tool, such as a screwdriver. The disconnect member acts upon the biasing leg of a leaf spring or the like to displace the same toward an unlocked position relative to a conductor that is introduced into the connector housing chamber. The present invention was developed to provide an improved release mechanism that permits the connection and disconnection of fine-strand conductors under tight space, poor accessibility, and difficult tool orientation situations.